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Hogzilla of Hocking Hills
Hogzilla of Hocking Hills is the twelth episode of Mountain Monsters season 2, and the eighteenth episode overall. A.I.M.S. investigates sightings of an enormous pig known as "Hogzilla", in Hocking Hills Ohio, and attempt to catch the beast in a wire cage trap. Summary Trapper drives the team to the Hocking valley in Hocking Ohio, and they are about to embark on a great adventure, after a huge hog type creature called Hogzilla. Trapper says the beast is coming out of state forests and terrorizing farmers, and since there is so much forest in the area he has plenty of places to live. Jeff says the first sightings were in the 1790's by the settlers in Shawnee territory. Jeff describes Hogzilla as being 8 to 9 feet long, 1200 pounds, and 4 and a half feet tall at the shoulders. Huckleberry says that a hog around that size would be like a tank, but Jeff is unsure whether the creature in question is even a hog, as it is reported that it has small usable paws in place of it's front hooves. Buck, however, is certain it is just a pig, and Jeff simply says "We'll see". This prompts Buck to make a bet with Jeff; if Hogzilla can stand up on it's hind legs and has paws, he'll dance with it. In Hocking hills, the team meets with a backwoods archaeologist named "Wildman". Wildman spends time out in the woods searching for arrowheads, old coins and such, most of which he likes to keep. Also, he says he got his nickname from his history in bars. Taking the group to where he had a sighting of a large creature believed to be Hogzilla, he tells them he saw a huge hog, about eight feet long, and 1000 pounds, with black hair and long curving tusks. He also says, it stood up on it's hind legs and could even swivel a little. This is shocking to the team, because they've never heard of a wild hog capable of anything like that. Wildman takes Buck where he saw Hogzilla go, and attempts to recreate the scene by running down the hill quite quickly. He then demonstrates his climbing abilities to Buck by scaling a tree. He also shows Buck a turned over log where something had been rooting around, fresh sign of something big in the area. With the great information Wildman provided them with, the team decides to conduct a night investigation in the area. At night, Trapper reminds the team to be very careful, as Hogzilla could very well be considerably dangerous, and will likely eat anything. As they make their way through the woods, they find torn up leaves, telling them they are on the right trail. They are about to head in that directon when a snap of the brush comes form behind them and Jeff picks up a hot spot on his thermal camera. It's not moving but it's fresh, and Trapper soon notices another one, moving, not far behind. Shortly after seeing it, they hear a strange hog call, similar to a hog's yet different, sounding like a wail. Trapper believes the beast is trying to circle around them. The silence is broken by the howls of coyotes, likely scared by the large creature, and then another sound, a low grunt, comes from much closer. They continue moving, and follow a trail into a thick brush, and smell a hog. Inside the brush, Buck finds broken tree limbs and even more, a huge nest. As the team gets closer to the nest, something lets out a deep snort and disappears out the back of the nest, however, no one manages to see it but Buck. After that potentially dangerous the encounter, the team is absolutely certain Hogzilla is in the area. Before leaving, Trapper takes a piece of the nest as a souvenir. Trapper now believes Hogzilla is over 1000 pounds, and has to tell Willy, so he can be a strong enough trap. Next day, Wild Bill cooks a large slab of pork on a barbeque, which he brings to meet Willy, barbeque and all. While Wild Bill is snacking, Willy tells him Hogzilla weighs 1000 pounds, with big tusks. He describes the trap he has in mind is a tunnel cage trap, which is a small cage, connected to a big cage, with small doors in front, with a trigger set up. Once something goes in and sets off the doors, it's caught. The trap will be made with 2 inch steel pipe and cattle panel, making it sturdy enough to hold Hogzilla. Due to the size of the trap, Wild Bill dubs it "Trapzilla". The duo works all day on the trap and once it's finished, they just have to find a good spot to put it in. Meanwhile, the rest of the team meets with their second eye witness, a hunter named Beau. Beau has a barn on the middle of his property where he keeps supplies, and every weekend he goes out to feed his deer, and check his trail cameras. Two weeks ago, he said he came up to the barn when he heard something thrashing around inside. As he came closer, he saw something walk in front of the doorway, stand up on two legs, eight feet tall, to the team's disbelief. He then tells them it must have known he was there because it dropped down on all fours and climbed out the window. After he looked at the feed bags inside, he found them torn up, leading him to believe the creature has claws. What's worse is that, as Trapper asks, the deer seem to have left the area, as have many other animals, and Beau says he's almost ready to leave too. Finally, he tells the team he managed to catch the swine on film, which he shows to the guys. After seeing the video, of a large creature exiting the barn, the team looks inside the barn, and finds a pathway leading outside the barn, which Hogzilla appears to use often. On the path there is a large, pawlike footprint. At this point, the team is unsure if Hogzilla is just a usual pig, or something else, but they intend to find out. Back at the trap, Willy and Bill continue construction, and finish the frame and the large cage, with only the smaller funnel left. Wild Bill also continues his all-pork diet, to give him extra strength. The rest of the team waits to meet with their next eye witnesses, but first have to meet with Bill, who they invited along. After an hour of waiting, he finally shows up, and they take the side by side to meet the witnesses. In the woods, they talk to Tom and Elaine, a brother and sister. Tom says he caught a picture of Hogzilla on one of his trailcameras, which he shows to the team. After seeing the picture, which was taken a mile away from Beau's barn, the team is certain Hogzilla is in the area. Elaine says that their trap better be big in strong to catch such a monster. Finally, Elaine tells the team that if they catch Hogzilla, they'll have a party, an offer they plan to take her up on. Later, the team meets with Willy in a big field where they found a trail, so that is where they set up the trap. The team is impressed with the Willy's handiwork, and after he tells them how it works and sets up the springs, they cover the trap with sticks and straw to camouflage it, and Buck baits it with corn. They think they're ready, but Bill has one more surprise; a big ham for the team to eat. After chowing down on the snack, giving them "Pork power" as Bill calls it, all they need to do is wait until nightfall. Late at night, the team meets out in the woods, and Trapper splits them up into two groups;himself,Willy, and Huckleberry, and Buck, Bill, and Jeff. Bill is reminded once again not to charge off after the creature as it could put his team in danger. As a final warning, Trapper tells the guys if they hear something big coming, make sure they hit it. Both teams separate, moving to the west and east of Beau's barn, planning to push Hogzilla towards the trap. As Buck's team begins their search, the come across a log that's been broken open, a sign of Hogzilla, rooting for food. Meanwhile, Trapper's team makes their way through the woods, when they hear something moving through the brush. Not sure as to what it was, they press on. Buck's team, on the other hand, soon is startled by snapping in the woods, and Jeff sees a large heat signature not far away. When they arrive at the spot where it was, they find torn up ground and log, so they call Trapper and inform him of their sighting. Trappr suggests Buck try a hog call, to see if they get a response. Minutes after the calls, both teams are surprised when they hear a terrifying bellowing noise. Determining the noise came from the direction of Beau's barn, Trapper tells the Buck to meet them at the side by sides and head there. When both teams arrive at the barn, they creep up to it, and begin searching for the beast. Inside, the hear noises, but have difficulty finding the source due to the amount of equipment in the barn. After remaining quiet for a moment, another bellow comes from somewhere, sending the team into a commotion, desperately trying to locate Hogzilla. They can't seem to see him on the thermal camera,and have no idea where is is when they hear more banging, and come to the conclusion the monster somehow escaped out the back. Outside, the team decides to circle the barn until the find Hogzilla. Buck, Willy, and Bill, hear something moving in an old truck trailer, and discover Hogzilla must be inside eating, as there are apples all over the floor. They call the rest of the team over, and Trapper sends Bill in to the trailer, and Buck, Huckleberry, and Jeff to the back door to prevent him from getting away. Bill moves closer to the creature who is concealed behind some creates, while the others see the back doors being violently rammed, in an attempt to pry it open. Eventually, the doors can no longer contain Hogzilla, who breaks through the doors, but is not caught on camera. When the rest of the team comes together, Buck and Huckleberry say the saw Hogzilla head down the hill, possibly towards the trap, so they rush to the side by sides once again and speed to the trap. When they come to the trap, they find there is indeed an enormous pig inside, Hogzilla himself, albeit not as big as they believed him to be. The team is overjoyed to have caught the monster, which Trapper says is a Russina wild boar crossed with a duroc. The team reckons it weighs around 800 pounds, and say it's defiantly the biggest hog in the wild they've ever seen, and Trapper guesses it could make 500 pounds of sausage, of which Bill says he could 499. Trapper explains that fear can change people's perception, as many of the witnesse had reported details on Hogilla that were not true, such as him having paws or tusks, but it's Trapper job to separate the facts from fiction. With the night hunt successful, all that's for the team is to call animal control to pick up Hogzilla. With one final cheer, the team departs, happy with their accomplishment. Category:Cryptids Category:Episodes Category:Season 2